Javier Medina: Made from Scratch

Javier Medina’s striped apron is covered in flour. “I’m a chef by trade,” he says. “I just started learning on my own.”

A baker at Homeboy Industries, Javier loves his work. “My specialty? I make Italian food, baked ziti, meatballs—I make everything from scratch,” he says proudly.

As a young teen, Javier dealt with his life struggles in ways that led him to addiction and ultimately the gang life. “Everyone around me, the people I grew up with—we started getting into trouble. Other gangs wanted us join them. Then they started becoming our rivals. “I had a bad temper and anger issues, I was very violent. I was a big bully.”

Eventually, Javier reached a very low point. “I was facing charges, my girl had just passed away. I was doing drugs and I didn’t care about anything. I started to feel lost. I didn’t know where to go.”

With the help of his mother, Javier started recovery with Alcoholics Anonymous. Soon after, he came to Homeboy Industries for tattoo removal. “I was curious about this place. I started asking around. They gave me an interview. Then they gave me a start date, Oct. 1 of last year.”

Javier was working maintenance at Homeboy when the secret got out about his culinary skills. “I’m good at ballpark food: ribs, hamburgers, hot dogs. I would make food on the weekends and people here would say, ‘We heard you had a barbecue and you didn’t invite us!’” One day, Javier brought some of his famous ribs to the café. “They tried them. And Hector [Verdugo, Associate Executive Director at Homeboy] said, ‘Hey, these are pretty good.’”

Now Javier bakes bread for Homeboy. “This is the job for me. I love it. I don’t see it as a job. I go home happy, not tired.”

The Homeboy community has been instrumental in helping Javier transform his circumstances. “I’ve never seen any gang prevention program like this. They helped me out with my anger issues. I see a therapist. I’m always happy now. I’m calm. I was known for my violence. When I run into people I knew back in the day, they say, ‘I’m not used to you being so nice.’ I say, ‘I’m in recovery. I don’t do drugs, I’ve been clean.’ And they say, ‘You look happy, man. I want what you have.’ I tell them, ‘You want this? I can take you to a place when you’re ready to stop messing around.’”

He adds, “This program really works, really changes people who take it seriously. I was ready for the change, and it changed my life.”